The Winchester Trials
by kbraddock
Summary: Sam and Dean are back to face their ultimate foe on what could be their final run as hunters. Will either of them make it out alive?


_The Winchester Trials _

A/N: I own no one! Set at the start of Season 15, post Rowena.

**Chapter One **

**The Evergreens**

His eyes watched the evergreens through the passenger window. They passed one after another, moss clung to every inch of bark. It was overcast and beginning to drizzle as they made their way through the Okanogan-Wenatchee forest.

"Should we stop for gas?" Sam asked.

Dean looked at the gauge. "We got a quarter of a tank, I think she'll pull through."

"I don't know, Dean." Sam piped up as he looked at Google maps on his phone. "A gas station is coming up here in a minute. We still have about forty miles to go before we get to Leavenworth."

Dean glanced over at Sam, his eye brow raised. Sam shot a glance back with a slight grin. That was the look his brother gave him when he knew but wouldn't admit Sam was right.

Dean finally nodded. "Forty miles, huh?"

"Yeah. And it looks like we're going to hit some traffic going in."

"Didn't you say this was some kind of tourist trap town?"

"It's this Bavarian village in the Cascades. From the photos, it looks pretty neat."

"Great." Dean replied in an annoyed tone. "With it being close to Christmas, I'm sure the place is going to be packed."

"The news reported multiple missing persons within the last week." Sam said as he scrolled through his phone. "None of them have showed up. One witness says she saw a man leave his family at a gift shop and walk into the forest without a word." Sam looked up and over at Dean. "Seems like the perfect place for a monster to do its dirty work. Lots of crowds to blend into and tons of forest to cover up whatever its doing."

" I just hope we're not walking into a trap." Dean's tone was stern but seemingly strong. After fifteen years on the road with his brother, Sam could tell when Dean was truly worried though. They were prepared to handle a lot of things but there was one thing they still had no idea how to prepare for. Dean had been attempting to stay strong before every hunt they'd done this past year but Sam knew underlyingly that Dean was constantly worried about running into the only monster he feared. It was this monster that could end one or both of them; this monster that was the only thing capable of tearing the brothers apart for good. On top of that, neither of them had seen or heard from Cass in months despite him making up with Dean and all of them working together again, Cass seemed to have just up and disappeared himself.

"Dean." Sam said, looking over at his brother. Dean maintained eye contact with the road. "It's been almost a year and we're still here. My visions have stopped and there's been no signs of Chuck or God anywhere."

"Yeah but that wound of yours is still there. You'd have healed by now if Chuck was really gone." Dean spotted the gas station and was beginning to slow down.

"Yeah, but it hasn't bothered me." Sam paused, letting out a long breath. "I'm just saying." He began again. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions until we have evidence of what we're working with here. This could very well be another walk in the park hunt for us."

Dean pulled up to the pump and removed his seatbelt. "You want anything from inside?"

Sam shook his head. He knew the conversation was over. He watched Dean get out of the car and walk into the convenience store before redirecting his eyes back onto the evergreens. The Impala had only made a couple of drives to the pacific northwest and everytime they were in Washington, Sam felt this tremendous sense of peace. He thought to himself each time he had been there how nice it would be to retire there. He knew though the chances of him ever retiring were slim to none. This life had chosen him, not the other way around and there wasn't any easy way of walking away from it. That really became clear to him when he let Dean have a taste of it for just over a year. A family, a normal life. Sam would never have that but at least Dean had it for a moment. 'I wish I could have let him have it.' He thought to himself as he watched Dean walk back around the Impala and over to the gas pump.

"Alright." Dean said as he opened the door a few minutes later and threw a plastic bag into Sam's lap before getting into the car. "Open up that jerky, will ya?"

"These are such a rip, Dean." Sam began as he opened the bag. "You pay so much for this and they barely give you any meat."

Dean grabbed the freshly opened bag out of Sam's hands right before Sam was going to reach in for a piece. "That's why I ain't sharin'."

Sam gave Dean a look that could best be described as playfully annoyed.

"Alright Bavarianville." Dean said as he ripped apart a piece of beef jerky with his teeth and pulled back out onto the highway. "The Winchesters are coming."


End file.
